


heathens

by mywashingtonromance



Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, The Hunger Games (Movies), Twenty One Pilots
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hunger Games AU, Lots of Angst, M/M, gerard is an alcoholic and basically haymitch, there are other characters and relationships that i'll add, this is pretty much the same as the hunger games tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 14:30:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6379909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mywashingtonromance/pseuds/mywashingtonromance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler Joseph is thrown into the clutches of the Capitol by volunteering as a tribute. His district partner, Josh Dun, is a fidgety and scared boy, and Tyler sees himself reflected in him. Their mentor, Gerard, is wasted most of the time. </p><p>The odds probably aren't in their favor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	heathens

Leaves crunch under his worn out boots, making more sound than he would prefer. He's done for the day, anyways. He knows next year, maybe after the Games, he will have to teach Zack how to hunt. It won't be long until Tyler is shipped off to the mines, to work in the dusty, nearly smoking air, until an accident, he, like his father was, is blown to smithereens. When he turns eighteen, he won't be able to sneak under the fence, into the woods, to hunt like his father taught him to. He won't be able to take tesserae, either. Won't be able to so much as beg for the meager supply of grain and oil to last his family a year. 

But that's two years away, and Tyler has bigger things to worry about- the fact that the odds are decidedly not in his favor. At sixteen, his name is entered as a possible tribute twenty times. Some kids his age are only entered four times. But the possibility of going to the Games is worth it to Tyler. As long as it keeps his family from starving, anything is worth it. 

Tyler makes his rounds through town- the black market, or the Hob, to trade a few squirrels for a few potatoes, to the butcher to sell a few rabbits, to the bakery to trade for bread, and then home. 

The shack is warm when he steps into it, a rare occurrence in his Seam home. His mother has been boiling water for baths. Tyler drops off the food and coins on the counter and goes to scrub himself down, quickly. He's clean enough and dressed in ten minutes, and goes to meet his family in the front of the house, to take in their grim faces. Zack and Jay, dressed in Tyler's old shirts and pants, already too small for both of them, even though Tyler is older than them. Madison clutching onto their mother's hand, even though she is going to the Reaping as a spectator, not a possible tribute. 

Tyler swallows nervousness as his family begins the dreary, silent walk to the square. Tyler allows the moments to pass without thought. He shuffles his feet and looks straight ahead as the Peacekeepers push he and his brothers in line, as they prick his finger, as he is herded into the square of sixteen year olds. He picks at some lint on his shirt sleeve while the announcer rattles on. She reminds everyone that the tributes don't have to be a boy and a girl, anymore, that all of their names are in the bowl together. How comforting. 

He tunes back in when he hears the shout of, "our first tribute, from District Twelve, is..." She pauses for effect. He hates this pause. "Joshua Dun!"

Tyler knows Joshua Dun. They aren't friends- they've never even spoken. But Joshua lives in the Seam, too. His mother was taken out in the same mining explosion that killed Tyler's father. Joshua's father is something of a healer- there are no doctors in Twelve. After losing his leg in an explosion, Mr. Dun took over the medical practice of his parents. Tyler knows this because he once was bitten by a wild dog and had to get stitches. He rubs the scar by reflex. 

"Jay Joseph!"

Tyler must have zoned out, thinking about Joshua Dun. His attention is certainly back now. The scream releases from the back of his throat before he can even think. Jay's name is only entered once. He is only twelve. He cannot go into that arena. 

"I volunteer!" Tyler shrieks, running through the line of Peacekeepers, onto the stage. Tyler knows how he must look. Tall, but scrawny. Crying. Screaming. Desperate.

Jay cannot go into that arena. 

Tyler pants. "My name is Tyler Joseph, I- I volunteer as tribute."

He can feel Gerard Way's eyes boring into his back as the crowd claps unenthusiastically for the tributes of Twelve. Tyler's ears are starting to ring. A Peacekeeper pushes him into the Justice Building to say his goodbyes. Tyler doesn't register anything until his family crowds into the small room. Tears are streaming down his mother's face. Madison is sobbing and immediately latches onto Tyler's leg. Jay is holding back tears and Zack's jaw is set, his eyes stony looking. 

"You can win it," Jay says shakily. Zack nods. Tyler's eyes are starting to blur from tears. He fixates on a corner. 

"Just run fast and get a bow. You have to come back." Zack's voice cracks. "You have to, Tyler."

Tyler feels himself nodding as Jay and Zack hug him simultaneously. "I will. I'll win. I'll come back. Don't either of you dare sign up for tesserae. No matter what."

A Peacekeeper tells them the time is up. Tyler gives his mother a hug before they are all ripped from his grasp. He is crying again. 

He's sobbing when his next visitor, Mark, comes in. Mark is the mayor's son. He and Tyler are unlikely friends, but neither of them really had friends at school, so they somehow always ended up together. 

"I'll take care of them," Mark says, standing awkwardly in front of Tyler. "I'll make sure I get them food."

Tyler shakes his head. "I can't- if I die I can't pay you back."

"Hey," Mark says, putting his hands on Tyler's shoulders. "You don't need to repay me- but you're going to make it back here. Just promise that, Tyler, when you're in there you'll wear this."

Mark presses something cool into Tyler's hand. A gold pin.

"It was my aunt's. She died in the Games. But you won't. You're going to come back."

Tyler recognizes the bird on the pin as a mockingjay as Mark is being pulled out. 

Tyler blocks everything out until the tears stop flowing and he is on a very quickly moving train, sitting next to Joshua Dun. Tyler looks at his district partner, really, for the first time.

He has an unruly mop of curling brown hair, and dark eyes that Tyler thinks he could probably get lost in. He looks bewildered, upset, and- innocent. Tyler hopes the Games don't ruin that.

"Do you know him?" Josh asks, his voice shaky. He must have realized the change in Tyler's demeanor. 

"Huh?" Is all Tyler can muster.

"Gerard. He is our mentor, after all."

Tyler scoffed. "He's a druggie."

"You don't know that."

"He's an alcoholic," Tyler counters. 

"You don't know that, either," Josh says, less sure. 

Tyler sighs. "I do. He buys liquor stronger than rubbing alcohol on the black market, I see him all the time."

"See who all the time?"

Shit.

Tyler didn't notice the sound of an opening door, but he does notice the sound of Gerard Way's voice. 

Gerard Way is something of an enigma. A confusing piece of District Twelve history that no one quite understands. The only living victor from Twelve, Gerard won his Games at fourteen, one of the youngest ever, by being smarter, faster, and vicious- unafraid to kill. Tyler doesn't remember Gerard's Games. They were ten years ago. The Games changed him, like they always changed victors. Some are cosmetically redesigned. Some go crazy and turn to drugs or alcohol. Gerard fit more into the latter group. The only thing to show that he was no longer just a citizen of Twelve, his only touch of the Capitol, was his disheveled, brightly dyed, red hair. He still had those Seam eyes, though, smoky and exhausted looking, not only from the hardships of his impoverished life before the Games, but the aftermath of winning. He was a rumored drug user. He drank more than the entire district combined, Tyler bet. 

Josh swallowed nervously. "Do you have any advice for us? You did win."

Gerard laughs like it's the funniest joke he's ever heard. 

"Stay alive."

**Author's Note:**

> ugh
> 
> i know this is short but the first chapter is just to see if anyone actually likes it- it will get better i promise.


End file.
